R.I. activists wary of Gorsuch nomination to U.S. Supreme Court

Monday

Feb 6, 2017 at 6:24 PMFeb 6, 2017 at 6:24 PM

Concerns about civil liberties, gun control and reproductive rights were shared at a Feb. 6 discussion in Providence sponsored by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse as he faces a vote on President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch.

Katherine Gregg Journal Political Writer kathyprojo

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Pawtucket paint store owner David Silvia was the only out-front Donald Trump voter in a roomful of worried pro-choice, pro-gun control, civil libertarians gathered by U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse for a discussion Monday about President Donald Trump's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch.

During and after the roundtable discussion of the federal appeals court judge's qualifications, Silvia said: "I think he's a decent man. I think the fact that somebody carries religious principles with him is not a bad thing. You listen to what they were saying around that, it was all: Anyone that had any religious motivations was bad."

"I disagree with that totally," Silvia said. "As long as we are following the law and following our conscience, the government should leave us alone, not tell us what to think and what to do."

But nearly two dozen others voiced concern about what a Trump Supreme Court nominee with a "religious bias" might do, especially one who, in his past decisions, led them to believe he values the rights of big, wealthy corporations over the individual.

Lawyer Zachary Mandell, president of the R.I. Association for Justice, warned: "There may be somebody worse behind."

But lawyer Miriam Weizenbaum, president of the R.I. Center for Justice, said: "This is absolutely a fight worth fighting."

She cited Gorsuch's concurring opinion in the 2013 appeals-court decision involving Hobby Lobby craft stores that freed closely held, for-profit secular corporations from having to provide contraceptive coverage as part of their employer-sponsored health insurance plans. His opinion hinged, in part, on his stated belief in religious freedom.

But Weitzenbaum said: "Believe what they say ... Trump has made it very, very clear that he intends to obliterate the rights of the individual on behalf of the interests of the corporation."

In the future, "they are likely to be considering what is now a Muslim ban, which is clearly ... religiously based," she said of the Supreme Court. "The next thing is speech-based. Now we are talking about sorting based on political views. ... I don't want to be alarmist, but you also don't want to be naive. We're in for potentially very, very frightening times."

Activist Lauren Nocera's concern was personal: "As a transgender person with a gender presentation that confuses a lot of people, there is not a moment I end up in a public bathroom that I am not afraid, period. And this particular nominee has given us a very clear representation about what he thinks about that. ... [It would] mean a lot to me if there is some quick question you can ask on this issue."

Monday's discussion on the Roger Williams University Providence campus was the latest in a series Whitehouse has convened to hear what activists in his home state have to say about Trump nominees on whom he will vote.

A former U.S. attorney and state attorney general, Whitehouse has not yet taken a formal position on Gorsuch. At first glance, he said, Gorsuch seems "a very well-qualified and well-educated person ... [who] lean[s] in favor of corporate interests against individual interests ... and the history is when you give Republicans five members on the Supreme Court they go on ... a bender of big-corporate, special-interest, Republican election ... and far-right social agenda decisions."

""We are concerned with Judge Gorsuch's interpretation of the 2nd Amendment," said Sydney Monstream-Quas of the RI Coalition Against Gun Violence.

She urged Whitehouse to ask, for example, where he stands on giving the "reciprocal right" to carry concealed weapons here, "including in our K-2 schools, to someone "from Louisiana or Texas or Florida" with a license to do so in their home state.

"That's frightening for many of us."

— kgregg@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7078

On Twitter: @kathyprojo

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